craigleak2@yahoo.com | (850)221-1498
In the alien world of Moonray, the entire universe is constructed by a liquid-based element called Miium. When on-boarded, I took the initiative to make a combat system from scratch that showcased this stunning shader effect while being inspired by the works of DMC. Immediately I noticed the shader looked best when moving, so I aimed to create a combat structure that would not only allow high movement but encourage it. While designing and prototyping the hit reaction system, I laid everything out using a UE5 datatable; this allowed for hit reactions to be added over time or replaced and updated by dropping the new animation into the correct row. I used knockbacks at the end of combos to create space between the attacker and the attacked, essentially resetting the fight and allowing the fluid system to react to the impact beautifully.
I always design with scaling in mind, so while I was still prototyping the games, I made sure that everything could be scaled to any possible designs that may come into the pipeline. I listed out all of the possible inputs, LightAttacks, HeavyAttacks, and all three skill-based attacks; then, I made a combo system that looked for the following named row when the same information is repeatedly pressed. This made creating combos a natural flow chart.
This system made creating a new moveset almost effortless where I can start with an already established moveset and replace the moves one by one. The flexible combo also ensured that no moveset had to play with the limitations of another.
By the end of my tenure, I was entirely responsible for designing and creating all combat systems and prototyping eight unique weapons.
